1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to family law; marriage dissolution;
1.3 	modifying the grounds for dissolution; providing a
1.4 	waiting period for certain dissolutions; amending
1.5 	Minnesota Statutes 2004, sections 518.06, subdivision
1.6 	1; 518.145, subdivision 1.
1.7 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.8 	Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 518.06,
1.9 	subdivision 1, is amended to read:
1.10 		Subdivision 1.Meaning and effect; grounds. (a) A
1.11 	dissolution of marriage is the termination of the marital
1.12 	relationship between a husband and wife.  A decree of
1.13 	dissolution completely terminates the marital status of both
1.14 	parties.  A legal separation is a court determination of the
1.15 	rights and responsibilities of a husband and wife arising out of
1.16 	the marital relationship.  A decree of legal separation does not
1.17 	terminate the marital status of the parties.
1.18 	(b) A dissolution of a marriage shall must be granted by a
1.19 	county or district court when if the court finds that there has
1.20 	been one or more of the following grounds exist:
1.21 	(1) adultery;
1.22 	(2) inability to consummate the marriage;
1.23 	(3) cruelty;
1.24 	(4) failure to seek treatment for chemical dependency as
1.25 	indicated by a chemical dependency evaluation, or to comply with
1.26 	conditions established by a chemical dependency treatment or
2.1 	aftercare program;
2.2 	(5) willful desertion for one year preceding commencement
2.3 	of the action;
2.4 	(6) placement in a treatment facility pursuant to chapter
2.5 	253B or confinement in a state correctional facility or jail for
2.6 	an aggregate period of more than one year; or 
2.7 	(7) an irretrievable breakdown of the marriage relationship.
2.8 	(c) If a dissolution is granted on the ground specified in
2.9 	paragraph (b), clause (7), the decree of dissolution becomes
2.10 	final three years after it is entered.
2.11 	(d) A decree of legal separation shall must be granted when
2.12 	the court finds that one or both parties need a legal separation.
2.13 	(e) Defenses to divorce, dissolution,and legal separation,
2.14 	including,but not limited to,condonation, connivance,
2.15 	collusion, recrimination, insanity, and lapse of time,are
2.16 	abolished.

2.17 	Sec. 2. Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 518.145,
2.18 	subdivision 1, is amended to read:
2.19 		Subdivision 1.Appeal.  A decree of dissolution of
2.20 	marriage or of legal separation is final when entered, subject
2.21 	to the right of appeal, and except as otherwise provided by
2.22 	section 518.06, subdivision 1, paragraph (c).  When entered, the
2.23 	findings of fact and conclusions of law may constitute the
2.24 	judgment and decree. An appeal from the decree of dissolution
2.25 	that does not challenge the finding that the marriage is
2.26 	irretrievably broken does not delay the finality of that
2.27 	provision of the decree which dissolves the marriage beyond the
2.28 	time for appealing from that provision.A party may remarry
2.29 	before the time for appeal has run if it is not contested that
2.30 	the marriage is irretrievably broken or if a stipulation that
2.31 	the marriage is irretrievably broken is incorporated in the
2.32 	decree of dissolution the dissolution was granted on a ground
2.33 	listed in section 518.06, subdivision 1, paragraph (b), clauses
2.34 	(1) to (6), and that issue is not contested.

2.35 	Sec. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICATION.
 2.36 	Sections 1 and 2 are effective August 1, 2005, and apply to
3.1 	petitions for marriage dissolution filed on or after that date.